2012

China didn't make the cut for our 10 most censored countries. While the Chinese
Communist Party's censorship
apparatus is notorious, journalists and Internet users work hard to overcome
the restrictions. Nations like Eritrea and North Korea lack that dynamism.

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Just ahead of this weekend's highly anticipated Burma
by-elections, opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi today denounced
the vote as not "free and fair." Indeed, Thein Sein government's
harassment of opposition media in the run-up to the polls raises disturbing
questions about the country's reputed new democratic direction after decades of
repressive military rule.

Burma's news media remained among the most restricted in the world, despite the transition from military to civilian rule and President Thein Sein's vow to adopt a more liberal approach. The Press Scrutiny and Registration Department reviewed all local news journals prior to publication, censoring a vast array of topics. Criticism of the government and military was forbidden, although censors allowed more coverage of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and some political and economic topics. Authorities exercised control with a vengeance: The nation was still among the world's worst jailers of the press. Exile-run media continued to fill the news gap, but at a high cost: At least five undercover reporters for exile media were imprisoned. Regulations adopted in May banned the use of flash drives and VoIP communication services in Internet cafés.

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Bangkok, January 13, 2012--The Committee to Protect
Journalists welcomes the release of nine journalists who were freed as part of
a mass release of at least 600 political prisoners in Burma on Friday, but
calls on President Thein Sein to release reporters still being held in
detention and to implement press reforms that would end the country's repressive
media environment.